SONG 3907
Israel and Palestine
JOINT STATEMENT IN THE NAME OF AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL,
HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH AND THE INTERNATIONAL COMMISSION OF JURISTS
7 April 2002
Given by Mark Neuman,
Program Director of Campaigns and Crisis Response
International Secretariat
Amnesty International
at a Press Conference in Jerusalem
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Ordinary people
are the main victims of the tragic conflict that has unfolded here
over the past eighteen months. Day after day the news is of people
killed, or maimed for life, and of homes and livelihoods destroyed.
Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and the International Commission
of Jurists want to send a clear, unambiguous message to all parties
to this conflict, and to the international community. Stop the deliberate
targeting of civilians and other persons protected by international
humanitarian law. Stop actions that harm them. Immediately deploy
international monitors to protect the human rights of Palestinians
and Israelis.
As a fully-fledged
State and as an Occupying Power, Israel has clear obligations under
international law, and in particular under the Fourth Geneva Convention.
This Convention provides for security measures that can be taken to
protect itself, but these do not include the excesses now undertaken
by the Israeli government. We strongly deplore actions by the state
of Israel that harm persons protected by international humanitarian
law. These include prolonged curfews with severe restrictions on the
movement of people and access for medical personnel; intensified collective
punishments; wanton damage to homes, cars and civilian property; looting
and theft; and the coerced use of civilians to assist military operations.
Such actions violate international standards and transcend any justification
of military necessity.
The Israel Defense
Forces (IDF) has recently declared whole areas, such as Ramallah and
Bethlehem, closed military zones, and impeded the entrance of outside
observers, including journalists, human rights activists, government
officials, United Nations representatives, and the International Committee
of the Red Cross. The IDF has forcibly entered and ransacked the offices
of human rights organizations such as al-Haq. LAW and Addameer. Both
Palestinian and Israeli organizations have shown great determination
in continuing to work under these circumstances, but it has been almost
impossible to verify alarming reports about extra judicial executions,
"liquidations" of "wanted" Palestinians, and use
of lethal force against civilians and other persons protected by the
Geneva Conventions.
As a result of the
IDF military operations, hundreds of Palestinians have been arrested.
The identities and whereabouts of detainees are not known, and the
ICRC has not been allowed access to them, raising concerns about their
conditions and treatment. Several released Palestinians have reported
that, depending on the IDF unit guarding them, prisoners were at times
beaten.
In entire cities
and towns, ambulances and emergency medical services have ground to
a halt. Medical workers and ambulances have been fired upon. The wounded
have been denied access to medical treatment; Palestinians have been
killed attempting to reach hospitals for routine medical care. Such
abuses raise not simply humanitarian issues: they are serious violations
of international humanitarian law. Even in the face of this situation,
we are appalled by an increase in the use of suicide bombers by armed
Palestinian groups to attack Israeli civilians. Such deliberate attacks
on civilians are absolutely prohibited by international humanitarian
law. These actions tarnish the Palestinian cause and will not at all
help the situation - they only increase the fear and mistrust of ordinary
Israelis as well as adding to the suffering in the region. Over the
past week there have also been increasing signs of a breakdown in
law and order within Palestinian territories as well, including the
street-killing of alleged collaborators with Israel.
All these violations
must be stopped by those in a position to do so and perpetrators must
be brought to justice.
In the face of such
a human rights crisis, it is time for the international community
to act. Our three human rights organizations welcome the proposal
by Mary Robinson, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, that
the UN Commission on Human Rights send an immediate mission to the
area. We also repeat our call for international permanent presence
to be dispatched to Israel and the Occupied Territories to monitor
the situation, restore respect for human rights and humanitarian law
standards and to help protect civilians. The international community,
and in particular the United States, should exert its utmost influence
to ensure that both the state of Israel and the Palestinian Authority
cooperate with and facilitate the work of these missions. The presence
of international monitors does not absolve the relevant parties from
their human rights responsibilities or obligations. On the contrary
it should help enhance them.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
civilian suffering is not inevitable in a time of war or occupation.
Ordinary people should never become the target of those with arms.
All our organizations have witnessed, documented, and reported a wanton
disregard for the right to life over the past eighteen months. Such
abuse must stop now. Those who commit such crimes must cease them.
And the international community is morally, and legally, obliged to
act to ensure respect for such basic humanitarian principles.
Irene Khan
Secretary General
Amnesty International
Kenneth Roth
Executive Director
Human Rights Watch
Louise Doswald-Beck
Secretary General
International Commission of Jurists
